Take One Last Breath

..::Austin’s P.O.V::..

I stretched out my arms as I got up, then immediately retreated back underneath the covers. It was summer, so why the hell was it negative fifty degrees in the house? I could hear water, and then realized it was raining. Did it really get this cold in the summer just when there’s a little storm? I jumped at the sound of thunder, and came to the understanding that it wasn’t a little storm. I was okay with that, though, because I love thunder storms. Content with today’s weather, I hopped out of bed, and went through my dresser and closet, raiding it for clothes to wear today. I decided on a pair of ripped up jeans, and a gray Gettysburg Battlefield sweater.

I yawned as I walked into the bathroom, rubbing my arms warm. I started the shower as I undressed myself, satisfied to feel the warmth radiating from the hot water. I stepped in almost too eagerly, a sigh of content rushing out of my chest. I took all of the time in the world until I decided to get out, and face whatever would be thrown at me and Kori today. I could already tell today I’d be a bit crabby, so whatever Bam pulled today would result in a shit fit. I do not throw pretty shit fits. Regretfully, I quickly turned off the shower, and dove for my towels, trying my best to warm up. I dried myself off before the temperature got a chance to freeze me to a popsicle, and got dressed.

I got out Kori’s hairdryer, quickly drying out my long hair, and looked at the waves of the dark brown hair as it slowly turned to a bleached white at the ends. I quickly put on just a bit of makeup, since I wouldn’t be leaving the house today. I cleaned up my mess before grabbing a pair of wool socks from my dresser, and pulling them over my feet. I thought about a hat, but decided if I got that cold later on, I’d just rip off Bam’s face and pull it over my head. I walked into Kori’s room, seeing her asleep in the big lounge chair by the door. I got a puzzled look on my face, not believing that she could have slept there all night. I shook the confused thoughts from my head as I snuck up next to her, doing my best impression of a turkey.

She jumped up, and had a taser poised at me, ready to kill. She looked tired, but despite that, she looked like she was ready to kill a turkey. I put my hands up in surrender, and she dropped the taser.

“I’m so tired,” she moaned, and she quickly straightened out her clothes, like she’d get shot in the face if she were caught with them messed up. I guess it was because she was half awake, and I just scared the shit out of her, so her being a little jumpy would be understandable. Why she would sleep in a chair when it was this cold in the house, is beside me. I decided not to question it, because she’s just weird and does weird shit in general.

“Then get back in bed. Not chair, bed,” I directed her towards her bed, and pulled back the blanket and sheets as she got back in, and lay down. She muttered something incoherent before she started snoring, so I took it as a thank you, and tucked her in before I left to go outside, making sure her door was locked so nobody could just walk in. I hummed to myself as I followed the scent of food, my hands stuffed in the huge pocket in the front of my sweatshirt. There was a crack of thunder as I hopped down the steps, and I heard talking in the kitchen. I walked in to see Bam, April, Phil, Novak, Knoxville, and Hanna. Kori would be happy when she woke up to see Hanna was here, just like I was happy that Novak was here.

It bothered me.

I shouldn’t be excited to see one of Bam’s friends here, because his friends being here always ended up in something bad happening. I sat down at a plate of food, inspecting that nothing was wrong with it before I picked up a fork.

“How’s Kori?” Bam asked, that stupid smirk in his voice, “I’d hope she didn’t shit herself since last night I came in pretending to be Jason Voorhees,” he joked, and I clutched my fork, ready to stab him with it.

“How would you like my fork in your eye, Margera? Huh, how would you like that?” I looked at him menacingly, and I could feel the shit fit coming on. He stared at me before returning to his food, and my hostility slipped away.

“Speaking of Kori,” April interrupted, “Where is she anyways,” she asked curiously.

“She’s really tired for some reason, found her sleeping in the chair in her room,” I laughed, looking back down at my food, not that I missed a momentary
“flash of alarm on Bam’s face. He must have gone really far with this Jason Voorhees prank, which would explain why Kori was extra jumpy this morning. I was starting to think maybe he raped her or something, “So I put her in her bed, made her sleep there,” I informed April before going back to my food.

“Bam, where did you go last night,” Missy asked as she came in, sitting next to him.

“Apparently he was scaring the shit out of my best friend,” I muttered, finishing my food. There were only two scenes that played when Missy was around Bam, I noticed. Either this gushy romance stuff that made me want to barf, because who would want to be intimate with Bam is beside me. That, or she was yelling at him for something, like he was her slave or something, and that made me want to rip out my hair and stab myself in the ears, and then the eyes, only hoping I would damage my brain and die on spot. All in all, Missy’s presence is something I’d like to avoid.

“So good morning, Austin,” Novak said, changing the subject. He shot me an unusually big smile, which turned my stomach. Not in the way where I was sick, but the way I was nervous, which in turn made me sick. Was this the reason why Missy’s gushy romance shit was starting to bother me? I wasn’t starting to like Novak, was I? No, I couldn’t. He’s too…..I’ve seen him in my underwear. He wore my bra, which I took no time in burning in a pit fire.

“Morning, Novak,” I muttered, not wanting the quiver in my voice be noticed.

“Yes, how are you, Austine,” Knoxville asked, taunting me playfully. I rolled my eyes, hiding my smile.

“Very well, Clapp, thank you for asking4” I taunted back.

“That is Knoxville to you,” he retorted.

“God damn, if you two are going to flirt this much, at least get a room. We have like, ten,” Bam said, obviously irritated. If it’s because of Missy’s presence, I’m thinking maybe a friendship can be formed between the two of us.

“I’m sure Austin would not mate with Knoxville even if he had a penis,” Hanna teased, earning laughs from the room, none of which were Knoxville’s.

“Well if you didn’t suck on it so ha-“ Knoxville began, but was quickly cut off by April.

“Okay, that’s enough. I’m eating,” she said, seemingly frustrated. I shook my head as I emptied my plate into the trash. I would have to come back down later when there wasn’t so much chaos. I placed my dish in the sink, and headed towards the living room, and turned on the TV. I didn’t look for something I liked, but instead watched whatever was already on, because once everybody migrated into this room, I’d just end up going to a different room again. It
wasn’t long before the noise and the people making it were now in the room, taking control of the television and music. I got up, and silently slipped out. On my way up the stairs, I ran into Kori, who now looked like she wasn’t half dead.

“Hey,” I said, flashing her a friendly smile.

“Morn’,” she said, her voice grumpy. I almost wanted to stick around and watch what cat fight would happen today, but it just wasn’t a day where I was in the mood for anything.

“Still tired,” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Mhmm,” she said, and rubbed her eyes heavily.

“Well go take a shower, that’ll wake you up,” I suggested, taking another step up the stairs.

“Too hungry,” she stated like a 3 year old, and started back down the stairs. I mentally shrugged before I made my way back up to my room, cursing myself for not bringing my PS3, which I gladly would be occupied with right now. I entered my room once again, and plopped down on my bed, face first. I had a few books I could read right now, but at the moment, I just wanted to lay down and do nothing. I was afraid to look up when I heard my door open. I wasn’t in any mood to mess around right now.

“Hey,” Novak’s voice filled my ears, and I was filled with joy, too much joy.

“’Ey,” I said, my face still against the comforter.

“You sure do keep this place clean,” He pointed out, and I felt the bed shift as he sat down next to me. I rested my head on one side as I looked at his back.

“I don’t like my surroundings being messy,” I pointed out, and he chuckled.

“Fair enough,” he replied, “So, about that date,” he started, and my eyebrows furrowed together.

“Date?” I asked, and turned around so I could sit up and look at him.

“Yeah, the library,” he reminded me, and my memory flooded back.

“Oh, right, I didn’t know it’d be considered a date,” I said, playing with the hem of my sweatshirt.

“It can be considered whatever you like. C’mon,” he ushered me, helping me up from the bed.

“Fine,” I said, grabbing my phone and wallet quickly before leaving the house with Novak. We got to his beat up car, which had green pain all over the hood. I had the feeling that Bam had something to do with it. I put my hood up over my head as Novak opened the passenger door for me, and I got in. He ran around the front, getting in the driver’s seat. He started the car, and backed out, taking us to the library he had been talking about. The ride was a little awkward, so neither of us really said anything. After about fifteen minutes or so, we came across a huge brick building that had an American flag waving around in the front, where we parked.

“This is it,” he said, before getting out, and re-opening my door for me. He helped me out, and closed the door behind me. We ran into the building, and I was laughing because I felt like a 13 year old again for some reason. He shadowed me as I walked through the shelves on each floor, scouting out books that seemed interesting to me. I found a few books by H.P. Lovecraft that I hadn’t read yet. Once I was done picking out books, I walked to checkout, where I had to get a membership to the library. Once I had a card, I checked out the books, and Novak and I walked next door to Starbucks, which was good, because I was forced into missing out on breakfast.

“What do you want,” Novak asked me after he ordered for himself.

“Uh, chocolate muffin, caramel frappe on ice,” I told him, not expecting him to cover my order. After paying, we waited at the other end of the counter for our food and drinks.

“You know, you’re a lot different from when you were a kid,” he had pointed out, which caught my attention. I forgot he and bam had grown up together.

“Really?” I had asked, being caught off surprise. I didn’t think anything about me had really changed, except the fact that I’m a recovered alcoholic.

“Yeah. Taller, less annoying, less bitchy, and a lot more beautiful,” he said, and there was some sort of twinkle in his eyes.

“You’re hitting on me,” I stated, not meaning to let that be said out loud, “I mean – oh shit. Sorry,” I said, mentally banging my head on the counter, and that’s when the barista placed our food and drinks on the counter. We took them, and ran back out to the car. Once again, nothing was said really on the way back, so I just nibbled at the muffin, picking pieces off of it and silently putting them into my mouth.

“Sorry if I offended you,” he said politely, and I looked at him, my eyebrows knitting together.

“No, just…caught off surprise,” I told him honestly.

“I understand. I kind of wore your underwear. I guess it would be weird if I were to call a girl beautiful,” he smiled at me, and I blushed. Oh my god, what the fuck was happening here? He pulled into the private road leading to Bam’s house, where Novak parked, and started getting out.

“Can we…not get out yet? I really don’t wanna go back in there right now,” I admitted, still picking at my food. He put his foot back in, and closed the door.

“Yeah,” he said, holding his cup in his hand, “That’d be cool.” Even then, we were pretty silent. Once I was done, I crumpled up the wrapper, and started biting my lip. This had begun to get really awkward.

Then Novak’s lips were on my own.

©Shannon.